Not so Clean and Green

This blog is about the trials and tribulations of a new life. But I'm going to have a good grizzle about the life I left behind. The image that the world has of New Zealand is one of a clean, green paradise, where people dance around all day singing Kum Ba Yah. They think this mainly because that's what the marketing spin doctors in NZ have told them. But you know, if that was truely the case, then I wouldn't be one of the 70,000 people out of a population of 4 million who choose to permanently leave the country every year. That's the metric equivalent of 5 million people leaving the US every year. Forever. It's always been a standing joke that Sydney, Australia, is actually New Zealand's fifth largest city. Why is this ? Well, there are a number of reasons. But one only needs to look at the events of recent days to get a feel for the society as it exists today. The subject of child abuse is an emotive one world wide. Everyone hates it, no one condones it. Well, almost no one. But we'll get to that. First, a short history lesson. In 2003 Unicef published a report on child abuse in "rich nations". New Zealand was placed third on the Worst Offenders list, supassed only by Belgium and the Czech Republic. Those countries in the top 5 had child abuse rates that were 5 times higher than the average for the 30+ countries surveyed. If that's not enough to make you leave. New Zealand has good laws to protect adults from violence from other adults. There exists also laws to protect children from violence. With one exception. There existed a loophole in the law allowing for parents to use physical force against their children, in any form, as part of "parental correction". Not a lot of people, myself included, knew that there was such a provision in our laws. Until a close family member of mine was arrested in 2005 and charged for beating her 9 year old son with a riding crop. Her lawyer successfully applied the defence of "parental correction" and the case was dismissed. The outrage, as you can imagine, was swift and intense. In early 2007, the law was amended, removing the defence of justifiable violence against children by anyone, for any reason. As is often the case with career criminals, my family member was arrested again, after this time hog tying and beating her son. This time she was rightly convicted and jailed. Common sense, and sign of a progressive society. I wish. Last week, a national referendum was held as to whether or not the "parental correction" defence for violence against children should be reinstated. 80% of those who responded, voted in favour of reinstating the defence. New Zealand now a place in world infamy as being the only country in the world that has voted specifically to reinstate violence in society. It truely does defy belief. Nothing can help those poor kids in New Zealand who have been horse whipped, hog tied, hung from washing lines, and forced into clothes driers. But I do hope that the 70,000 people who have chosen a different path this year will have helped to secure a better life for their children. Today, I am ashamed of my roots.